Thursday, April 22, 2010
Correction and Apology
In the post Num-Yummy, where I show that gorgeous, sumptuous, silvery Shetland, I mention that I got it from Mim. I realized after Mim pointed out that she'd never had a ram named Polaris, that I had bought the wool from Lois at Stone Haven Farm when Mim and I had went to pick up a ram. Lois raises some beautiful wool and gorgeous sheep. Thanks for the fleece and I would still like to buy it again :)
Sunday, April 18, 2010
WIP.... FO?
I am not a knitter.
I have said that for many years, I'm a crocheter! I really don't know why I was so averse to learning how to knit, it was almost like I was a traitor for picking up knitting needles. It still feels weird. But when I said to Jo the other day "I'm not really a knitter." she pointed to my then almost-finished sock, and said "I think you are!". Hmmmm.
As soon as I finish the second one I will wash them, hoping they will shrink just a little, tighten up a bit.
This is my pattern, pretty basic. I used the book "Socks from the Toe Up" for the general idea and following the toe and heel pattern but the cuff is mine. I don't tend to wear tall socks much (except the ones that Jo made for me :) so my socks are pretty easy! This is using the short row toe and the short row heel and magic cast on. Maybe someday I'll try cables.
I finished a pair before this but didn't count it as too much of an accomplishment; I was following someone else's instruction, kept needing help, and so I didn't feel like I had done them myself. Like I was cheating lol I know, I'm weird.
This is my practice scarf I talked about in an earlier post (and of course the other, unfinished sock). It is the seed stitch (k1,p1, alternately), something I decided would be a good learning tool and it was. It taught me how to 'see' the stitches, what they looked like in relation to one another, and it helped me get past my awkward pearling, helped me look a bit less silly when trying to pearl. I had to frog a few times so it also helped me learn how to undo stitches and how to pick them up again after I'd ripped them out.
And of course, the obligatory 'Joy' picture... I'll let you all come up with a caption to this one :)
I have said that for many years, I'm a crocheter! I really don't know why I was so averse to learning how to knit, it was almost like I was a traitor for picking up knitting needles. It still feels weird. But when I said to Jo the other day "I'm not really a knitter." she pointed to my then almost-finished sock, and said "I think you are!". Hmmmm.
As soon as I finish the second one I will wash them, hoping they will shrink just a little, tighten up a bit.
This is my pattern, pretty basic. I used the book "Socks from the Toe Up" for the general idea and following the toe and heel pattern but the cuff is mine. I don't tend to wear tall socks much (except the ones that Jo made for me :) so my socks are pretty easy! This is using the short row toe and the short row heel and magic cast on. Maybe someday I'll try cables.
I finished a pair before this but didn't count it as too much of an accomplishment; I was following someone else's instruction, kept needing help, and so I didn't feel like I had done them myself. Like I was cheating lol I know, I'm weird.
This is my practice scarf I talked about in an earlier post (and of course the other, unfinished sock). It is the seed stitch (k1,p1, alternately), something I decided would be a good learning tool and it was. It taught me how to 'see' the stitches, what they looked like in relation to one another, and it helped me get past my awkward pearling, helped me look a bit less silly when trying to pearl. I had to frog a few times so it also helped me learn how to undo stitches and how to pick them up again after I'd ripped them out.
And of course, the obligatory 'Joy' picture... I'll let you all come up with a caption to this one :)
Friday, April 9, 2010
Some things I didn't mention...
I had intended to mention a few more things in that last post, but I was so tired from staying up late with lambs that its actually quite a wonder I got anything up at all.
Lambing this year has been for the most part wonderful. With the exception of Crimson having twins and rejecting one (she went to the neighbor, her and her kids are enjoying having a lamb as a pet :), and one of Bab's ewe lambs dying for no reason I could fathom, lambing has been easy. Then, one of the new ewes lambed in the big pen. I had felt her udders the day before and figured she was an easy two weeks away from lambing, so left her out. Jari called me when I was in town that day and told me the ewe had lambed but she didn't think the ewe knew what happened because she had walked away. This Tunis ewe and one other that came to me from my friend Sam in Moab last year (originally from a Tunis raiser in Oregon) are first time mothers, so it was not unexpected that she would be confused. So I came home. I noticed the lamb was bleating and strong, the ewe had come back to her, but the lamb wouldn't pick her head up. When Jari went to pick the lamb up so we could get her and her mother into the nursery, she kind of screamed, and backed away, I thought she was going to throw up, and said its neck was broken. I went in to the pen and found the lamb with a horribly twisted neck, not broken but the result was the same. Her neck was so twisted that her head was on sideways. My son put her down for us.
Then, last night, the other new Tunis ewe lambed in the big pen (attentive? me? That's two!). While we were watching Grace and making her nervous, Kevin went to feed and come back to tell me there was a new lamb in the pen and it didn't seem 'right' to him. He had his head held low, like you see some sheep do during fly season, and he kept backing up. When I picked him up to get them to the nursery, his heart was hammering! He was dry and warm, despite the 35 degree weather, so I knew he'd nursed, but watching him in the nursery (after a hefty shot of B Complex) I realized Kevin had been right. This lamb wasn't 'right'. After his hair raising adventures in the big pen (all the ewes and lambs were running around bleating for mom, bleating for kids, it was total confusion) he got a bit shocky I think, and just lay down to sleep. I wasn't sure what I would find this morning when I went out, but I had resigned myself to another dead lamb.
When I did go out, there were still three healthy newborns and they were all nursing and seem to be thriving. Despite his posture, the 'not right' lamb seems to be doing fine nursing and hopefully will continue to do well.
So is it just me or could there be a pattern here? Seems odd that I have two 'not right' lambs out of two ewes from the same farm... I have a msg in to the breeder to talk about it, so we'll see.
Michelle asked how many pure bred Tunis we have this year, the total is four.
LAMBING SEASON IS OFFICIALLY CONCLUDED :)
Lambing this year has been for the most part wonderful. With the exception of Crimson having twins and rejecting one (she went to the neighbor, her and her kids are enjoying having a lamb as a pet :), and one of Bab's ewe lambs dying for no reason I could fathom, lambing has been easy. Then, one of the new ewes lambed in the big pen. I had felt her udders the day before and figured she was an easy two weeks away from lambing, so left her out. Jari called me when I was in town that day and told me the ewe had lambed but she didn't think the ewe knew what happened because she had walked away. This Tunis ewe and one other that came to me from my friend Sam in Moab last year (originally from a Tunis raiser in Oregon) are first time mothers, so it was not unexpected that she would be confused. So I came home. I noticed the lamb was bleating and strong, the ewe had come back to her, but the lamb wouldn't pick her head up. When Jari went to pick the lamb up so we could get her and her mother into the nursery, she kind of screamed, and backed away, I thought she was going to throw up, and said its neck was broken. I went in to the pen and found the lamb with a horribly twisted neck, not broken but the result was the same. Her neck was so twisted that her head was on sideways. My son put her down for us.
Then, last night, the other new Tunis ewe lambed in the big pen (attentive? me? That's two!). While we were watching Grace and making her nervous, Kevin went to feed and come back to tell me there was a new lamb in the pen and it didn't seem 'right' to him. He had his head held low, like you see some sheep do during fly season, and he kept backing up. When I picked him up to get them to the nursery, his heart was hammering! He was dry and warm, despite the 35 degree weather, so I knew he'd nursed, but watching him in the nursery (after a hefty shot of B Complex) I realized Kevin had been right. This lamb wasn't 'right'. After his hair raising adventures in the big pen (all the ewes and lambs were running around bleating for mom, bleating for kids, it was total confusion) he got a bit shocky I think, and just lay down to sleep. I wasn't sure what I would find this morning when I went out, but I had resigned myself to another dead lamb.
When I did go out, there were still three healthy newborns and they were all nursing and seem to be thriving. Despite his posture, the 'not right' lamb seems to be doing fine nursing and hopefully will continue to do well.
So is it just me or could there be a pattern here? Seems odd that I have two 'not right' lambs out of two ewes from the same farm... I have a msg in to the breeder to talk about it, so we'll see.
Michelle asked how many pure bred Tunis we have this year, the total is four.
LAMBING SEASON IS OFFICIALLY CONCLUDED :)
And the Final Tally is...!
16!
These two were born last night; the pie-bald is a ewe, the other a ram. Notice the wrinkles? They were born to Gracie (we are going to rename her, we already have a Grace, we call her Belle all the time anyway). Gracie came from Mendenhal's The Wool Ranch last year, this is the first time she's lambed for me. I'm not entirely sure what breed she is, other than a Romeldale cross (a Romney and Rambouillette cross). So, these two are CVM/tunis and whatever else Gracie is. I love his wrinkles, means he'll have lots of wool!
These are Honey's babies; the girl is the one with the white top knot. She always has such beautiful lambs! And such a great mom.
This is one of Eliza's three, all her lambs are long bodied and leggy.
Not sure who these belong to (its getting confusing out there, we are going to do tags and tails this weekend). If you click to biggify this you'll get a surprise!
The whole gang! Well, ten of them anyway. The big pi-bald in the middle there is my favorite out of Eliza's trips, I'm thinking of keeping him as a terminal ram.
Joy in her Easter dress, she is so precious!
lol Jari like this one and said I should share it :)
This is what I see almost every day in the chicken coop lately. They all tend to lay in the same place, although there are three of these impromptu nests as well as nesting boxes, if one lays in this nest, all the rest of them will too. I am sure someone is laying about 3 eggs in 2 days, I've only got 8 hens and there are nine eggs here.
I don't know who came up with this name first and I don't suppose it matters, Michelle of Boulderneigh has a hen named Luciel, and here is my Luciel :)
Guess its just a name that fits a chicken. She has no fear of me, in fact sometimes will walk on my feet if I'm in her way. She is the one that lays the blue eggs. She runs out to me when they are out and about, and walks next to me all the way back to the coop where she knows I'm going to feed her.
These two were born last night; the pie-bald is a ewe, the other a ram. Notice the wrinkles? They were born to Gracie (we are going to rename her, we already have a Grace, we call her Belle all the time anyway). Gracie came from Mendenhal's The Wool Ranch last year, this is the first time she's lambed for me. I'm not entirely sure what breed she is, other than a Romeldale cross (a Romney and Rambouillette cross). So, these two are CVM/tunis and whatever else Gracie is. I love his wrinkles, means he'll have lots of wool!
These are Honey's babies; the girl is the one with the white top knot. She always has such beautiful lambs! And such a great mom.
This is one of Eliza's three, all her lambs are long bodied and leggy.
Not sure who these belong to (its getting confusing out there, we are going to do tags and tails this weekend). If you click to biggify this you'll get a surprise!
The whole gang! Well, ten of them anyway. The big pi-bald in the middle there is my favorite out of Eliza's trips, I'm thinking of keeping him as a terminal ram.
Joy in her Easter dress, she is so precious!
lol Jari like this one and said I should share it :)
This is what I see almost every day in the chicken coop lately. They all tend to lay in the same place, although there are three of these impromptu nests as well as nesting boxes, if one lays in this nest, all the rest of them will too. I am sure someone is laying about 3 eggs in 2 days, I've only got 8 hens and there are nine eggs here.
I don't know who came up with this name first and I don't suppose it matters, Michelle of Boulderneigh has a hen named Luciel, and here is my Luciel :)Guess its just a name that fits a chicken. She has no fear of me, in fact sometimes will walk on my feet if I'm in her way. She is the one that lays the blue eggs. She runs out to me when they are out and about, and walks next to me all the way back to the coop where she knows I'm going to feed her.
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